Gulf of Maine Institute

8 Towns and the Great Marsh Summary – March 4/14/12  

By James Nutter

On Monday March 19th, Eight Towns and the Great Marsh met at Ipswich Town Hall from 7 to 9 p.m.  First on the agenda was the Great Marsh Revitalization Task Force, and a PowerPoint was presented in order to explain its actions and purpose. In this group, which is aimed towards restoring the Great Marsh, is a Resource and Research Committee led by state senators Bruce Tarr and Steve Baddour. They have been leading mapping of phragmites in the Great Marsh, specifically in the Plum Island area.

A Circulation and Sedimentation subcommittee of the GMRTF has been assigned the job of figuring out how the Merrimack River is influencing the spread of phragmites, mapping phragmites, and looking at ways to monitor and treat existing phragmites. The Permitting Committee has been determining whether or not existing procedures to fight invasive phragmites have been successful and safe, figuring out who the authorized entities are for some of the land, and acquiring permission from landowners to map and treat the invasive species. It was noted that the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge could help with this as they have more power, and public outreach is needed to promote this cause.

After this we were informed that an act put forth by the EPA recently made it necessary to obtain a permit in order to discharge residue-leaving pesticides. This applies to the Merrimack River, making it a challenge to spray phragmites along it. An Education and Outreach Committee needs to focus their outreach on getting permission from property owners, and ways to do this could include roadside signs, flyers, or news articles.

Extremely important to this effort is the Funding Committee, dealing with getting herbicide treatment, mapping, research, and outreach sufficiently funded. The future of the task force includes continued mapping, developing a hydrodynamic model of the Merrimack River estuary to understand flushing dynamics that affect salinity and phragmite growth, and identifying funding sources.

Following the lengthy report on the Great Marsh Revitalization Task Force, the members discussed identifying the traditional and sustainable uses of the Great Marsh, important to justifying its importance. Off the top of our heads, we decided that cranberries, salt marsh hay, beach plum, oysters, herring, eel fisheries, and smelt were some significant uses. Now we need only to locate where these resources are and to figure out what to do with the information. Members will research traditional and sustainable uses of the Great Marsh for the next meeting.

Then we agreed on 8TGM as the acronym of 8 Towns and the Great Marsh. Improving the website for 8TGM will be on next month’s agenda.

Birgitta Glaser, Newburyport GOMI, April 14, 2012

When traveling around the community to educate people on climate change and assess their prior knowledge, I was surprised to learn that the children knew as much as the adults, or even more.

We presented  information about the carbon cycle and climate change in general to a group of adults in the community. They learned more about the carbon cycle, but already knew a lot about Global Warming and how to help the environment. We gave them more ideas on how to save energy and stop pollution in their everyday lives. Although the adults were well educated on the topic of climate change, they still learned more. For example, we showed them exactly how many years it would take for Newburyport to be under water due to the potential sea level rising from Global Warming.

Along with presenting to the adults, we also educated the seventh graders of the Nock Middle School on climate change. They surprised me with their knowledge of the carbon cycle and the greenhouse gas effect. Other groups of our GOMI team showed them power points and my group played a game with them. The seventh graders were very enthusiastic about participating and explaining their prior knowledge of Global Warming. They were also eager to learn more ways that they could help the environment.

It is especially important to inform children about climate change, since they will have to deal with the problems of the earth in their lifetime. If they learn to take care of their environment at a young age then it will become a habit. They are eager to learn and help, but they just need to be pushed in the right direction. When GOMI members take just a little time to set an example and show they care about preserving the earth, younger children will also follow.

by Ryan Furlong

Earlier this year, Cyrus Woodman, Paige Ameen, Lauren Healey, Imogene Robinson and I went to this year’s Salt Marsh Science Conference at the Parker River Refuge. Groups from all around our area came to help make a stand against invasive species, and talk about the related projects that each group has done in the past year.

This year, we being Newburyport GOMI, talked about our efforts in controlling the Pepperweed population, the problems climate change creates and may cause in the future, and more. The Salt Marsh Conference was a great experience for me because being there for a couple of hours, taught me a lot about what people in surrounding communities have done, and what we might add to our projects list.

I thought the Salt Marsh Conference was successful because I believe the message really came across to the audience. People were also asking questions, which is always good, since it shows the audience was engaged in what we were doing. This wasn’t the first time I had done something like this, but it was my first official GOMI presentation. I felt good after the presentation, and felt that we have accomplished a lot over the last several years, and we definitely have great potential after acquiring ten new members this year.

Overall, the Salt Marsh Science Conference was a huge success through my eyes, and a great experience. Hopefully, next year we will return with lots more stewardship activities to talk about.